World War II, Ray Porter - Part Three
As we left Ray Porter on Iwo Jima, he was slightly wounded by a sniper that had also killed Lt. Bob Koontz, a much loved and respected officer. The sniper was killed, and in his spider trap they found several personal items including a diary and a letter he was writing to his daughter. He later took the diary back to the ship and had it translated. Excerpts from the diary follow:
Feb. 19. Enemy tanks have finally landed. From now on I live only to fight, have no chance of surviving. We will defend our positions to the death. This is goodbye. I am praying for good luck for everybody. Long live the Emperor!.
Feb. 20. My comrades have fallen one by one. I have been fortunate enough to remain alive. Under artillery and air protection the enemy has occupied the No. 1 Airfield. Our filtration units are waging a bloody struggle. Not even one friendly plane can be seen. Today we will bravely attempt to destroy enemy tanks.
Feb. 21. After six days of bloody combat the southern coast has been seized. Our forces have been forced back. These are sad days. Our company will try to defend our defense perimeter to the death. The enemy first made use of a heavy naval bombardment and used tanks as the spearhead of his advance. The courageous action of our infiltration units has prevented the enemy from advancing very far. Ah, these brave men.
Feb. 22. Last night an infiltration unit left our cave, but unfortunately they were unsuccessful. The enemy has 50 to 60 naval vessels nearby, firing continually. His airplanes skim the ground. We have not seen one friendly plane.
Feb. 24. Day after day we pit our flesh and our bullets against planes, tanks, and naval gunfire. The enemy is gradually overrunning our prepared positions. We’re not afraid of the enemy’s infantry, but it is terrible that we do not have even one ship or plane. People of Japan, send us airplanes. If we had planes as the Americans and British do, our task would be easy. Tomorrow we will attempt to destroy the enemy tanks at one blow.
Feb. 26. Today is my day. We will charge, shouting, “Long live the Emperor!” My friend today led six men in an infiltration attack against the enemy. I am writing this only 200 meters from the enemy positions.
Feb. 27. Two of the six are dead. One is wounded. I am still unharmed. 1600 tomorrow will be last day. People of Japan, we need make no excuses to you, we have struggled as hard as we could, but unfortunately we cannot hold this island.
For thirty days the Marines were challenged, foot by foot, sometimes forced at night to fall back to a sheltered position. Each night foxhole digging became a necessity. They made coffee in their helmets. Ray went thirty days without a bath.
The eight square miles of Iwo Jima became the most expensive terrain per unit area for casualties of any battle of the war. At Iwo, 5,931 Marines lost their lives, 17,272 were wounded, and 2,648 had combat fatigue, giving a total of 25,851 casualties. The total for all services were 28,686, including 6,821 fatalities.
Approximately 20,000 Japanese were killed, and only 1,083 were taken prisoner. General Kuribayashi, the commander of the forces on Iwo Jima, with several of his key officers, apparently committed suicide rather than surrender, and their bodies were never found.
On March 16,1945, the seven survivors of Porter’s unit left Iwo Jima. It was good to be served hot dogs, bread, soup and crackers after their diet of beans, dried egg yolks and cheese in addition to K and C rations. The ship headed toward Hilo, Hawaii.
At Hilo, Ray, upon learning of the death of FDR, remembered the time in Florida that he had served as an honor guard for the president before he departed for a meeting with Churchill and Stalin. His unit saw no further action. He was discharged December 25, 1945. He came back to Tiffin and started working for the National Oil refinery in Findlay. Soon after that, he heard that GE was opening a plant in Tiffin and he applied. He was the second man hired and the first foreman. He retired from GE in 1979.
He married Helen Beckman November 2, 1946 and they had one daughter, Barbara, who lives in Wooster. Helen died October 22 last year. They had almost 54 happy years together often spending winters in Florida. Now he has two granddaughters, Laurie, and Susan and a great grandson, Jonathan. .
We thank you, Ray, for telling us your story. We note that you volunteered for the Marines about a month after Pearl Harbor. As a Marine you received $26 dollars a month, spent $6.70 for insurance and still sent $5 home to your mother on Perry Street. Mary and I will remember your description of the buddy system. It didn’t matter whether they were black, brown or white, or if they were Catholic, Protestant or Jew, you depended on each other for your very lives. You still agonize about your 25 buddies out of a platoon of 32 who lost their lives on Iwo Jima.
– Percy